Financial Services Employer Branding Research - Blu Ivy

bluivygroup.com
INDUSTRY
EMPLOYER BRANDING
INSIGHT SERIES
Financial Services

2Industry Employer Branding Insight Series | Financial Servicesbluivygroup.com
Introduction
The financial service industry makes
up almost one–third of the U.S.
economy,1
employing 6.3 million
people, and in Canada accounts for
over 800,000 jobs or 4.5% of the
country’s total workforce2
. In recent
years, it has transformed cities into
dynamic financial centers, expanded
employment opportunities, increased
government revenues and facilitated
business growth through access
to capital. Few industries have
influenced the global marketplace
as dramatically.
As the industry continues to expand,
so does its reliance on innovative
strategies. Traditional players are
capitalizing on investments in
digital platforms and broadening
their focus to include new markets,
while innovative technology
companies promote a wide range
of new platforms and business
models. But competition is also
expanding, especially when it comes
to attracting and retaining talent.
And this is putting established
players at risk of losing their
hard–won, competitive edge while
exerting pressure on virtually every
organization in the industry to
enhance its talent strategy.
1
See www.kornferry.com
2
Conference board of Canada, 2017
A global leader in
earnings, innovation
and employment
800,000+
6.3 million
Financial service jobs in Canada
Financial service jobs in the US

The financial
services industry
faces unprecedented
competition for
skilled talent
The competition for talent is heating
up. Organizations around the world
face what some analysts are calling
a “major crisis” that could lead to a
global skills shortage costing trillions
of dollars in unrealized revenues
over the next few decades.3
Knowledge–intensive industries,
including financial services, are
especially vulnerable to these
developments, given their focus on
disruptive technologies and the need
to replace older cohorts, such as
baby boomers, who are exiting the
workforce.4
As a result, within the
next two years, “the talent deficit for
the financial services industry alone
is projected to reach almost three
million workers globally”.5
Many organizations are
adapting to changes in
the talent market
Innovative leaders have always
made talent a strategic priority and
over the past few years many have
improved their capabilities with new
approaches that rely on enhanced
recruitment channels and partners,
in–depth assessment tools, predictive
performance capabilities, and
collaborative management systems.
But the talent ecosystem is evolving.
Younger workers have become highly
selective about their career choices
and prefer to work for organizations
that, above all, share their values. This
requires organizations throughout the
world to look for new ways to position
themselves as welcoming, innovative
and fulfilling places to work.
3
See www.kornferry.com
4
Samantha McLaren, Linked In Talent Blog, July 24, 2018
5
Samantha McLaren, Linked In Talent Blog, July 24, 2018

bluivygroup.com 4
Employer branding
can help
Employer branding is a strategy that
enables organizations to create a
favorable perception in the minds
of current and potential employees.
It is successful when it persuades
top performers to stay engaged
while inspiring new, skilled workers
to join them. It can also mitigate the
risk associated with public relations
disasters, which have become so
prominent across social media
platforms in recent years.
What is an
employer brand?
A well–executed employer brand is
not a slogan or a one–off marketing
campaign, but a key strategic asset.
It forms the basis of a company’s
reputation in the marketplace and
sends a message to customers,
employees and other stakeholders
that it values its people and is
committed to providing them with
the expected experiences and
opportunities desired in a supportive
work environment.
A strong employer brand includes an
Employer Value Proposition (EVP),
which defines corporate attributes
that are attractive, emotionally
compelling and distinctive.
A well-executed employer brand is
not a slogan or a one-off marketing
campaign, but a key strategic asset.
”

Employer branding,
like any discipline, is
only as strong as its
methodology
From initial research and employee
engagement to talent attraction
and communication strategies,
there is no such thing as a one–
size–fits–all approach to employer
branding. When carried out
effectively, employer branding
starts with a holistic assessment
of business goals, target markets,
business strengths, and recruitment
challenges. It also establishes a
communication channel that allows
business leaders to understand
what employees value most.
This work can translate into
a clearly articulated EVP, and
branded employee experience.
A comprehensive strategy will
also align with objectives and
metrics that track performance in
an ongoing two–way conversation
with target audiences.
Employer branding
is a long–term
commitment
A strong employer brand does not
happen overnight. Nor is it a one–off
initiative. Instead, it forms part of
an ongoing process that empowers
employees and evolves continually
in response to changes in the talent
market. When business leaders
embrace employer branding, they
empower employees to feel rooted,
fulfilled and primed to succeed.
Blu Ivy’s Employer
Branding Insight Series
As a leading North American
provider of employer branding
services, the Blu Ivy Group partners
with executives to build award
winning people practices, inspire
extraordinary employee engagement
and cultivate workplaces that stand
out in today’s global marketplace.
Over the past five years, we have
worked with financial services firms
across North America, consistently
monitoring industry trends and
providing analysis. This report,
the latest in a series focused on
recruitment and retention issues
in key industries, provides selected
results from a survey conducted
in 2017. More than 6,000 people
provided feedback to questions,
such as:
If your job includes the recruitment
and retention of talent for a
financial services firm, we invite
you to review these insights and
consider how they might be used to
enrich your talent strategy. fulfilled
and primed to succeed.
What characteristics do
workers value most in
today’s employers?
How can employers
become more appealing
to job seekers?
How does talent look for
work in today’s economy?
Who are the most
successful employers
and what can we learn
from them?
Why do some top
performers stay in
the financial services
industry, while
others leave?

Key Insights
What talent wants
Today, financial services firms
are competing for talent against
some of the most innovative
and well–branded companies
in the world. Google has built
an unrivaled reputation as a top
employer, offering an innovative
work environment full of learning
opportunities and a supportive
management team. Apple is
routinely recognized for its successful
business practices and promises
employees access to new technology
and effective leadership in an
environment where “the learning
never stops”. Both organizations
embody attractive attributes that
employees and job seekers expect in
today’s leading employers.
According to Blu Ivy’s research,
today’s workers want to be part of
organizations that cultivate a positive
reputation in the marketplace. They
want professional development,
together with a collaborative, yet
agile culture. And they want to feel
that the work they do is making a
positive contribution to the larger
community. Salaries still matter,
but organizations in search of
genuine employee engagement and
recruitment success need to focus on
much broader issues in line with the
values of their target audience.
The learning never stops.
”

What keeps talent
in the financial
services industry?
Eighty percent of survey respondents
cited “interesting, challenging work”
and the “opportunity to learn” when
asked why they prefer to work
in the financial services industry.
This is a positive feedback for an
industry that invests heavily in
a wide variety of transformative
business projects across diverse
functions and lines of business. But
other factors are also important. For
example, respondents noted that
they perceive financial institutions
as places that promote collaborative
cultures offering “transparency” and
“openness” and they appreciate
the” flexible approach” to how
their work is completed, especially
when this encourages “work–
from–home” initiatives and other
options that allow them to balance
personal commitments and work
requirements. Compensation remains
a compelling motivator, cited by
60% of respondents, and reflects a
long–standing industry reputation for
paying at or above market rates and
providing competitive benefit plans.
What pushes talent
away from the financial
services industry?
While much has been done to
expand the popularity of the
financial services industry among
employees and job seekers in recent
years, old perceptions die hard.
Many established players are still
seen as slow and unresponsive,
while others are struggling
to promote a message that
consistently attracts and retains
the best talent. Blu Ivy’s survey
uncovered five reasons why many of
today’s workers prefer to avoid the
financial services industry.

Lack of Consistent
Leadership Practices
Almost half (48%) of all survey
respondents cited “ineffective” or
“indifferent’ management as a leading
reason for their lack of enthusiasm. This
will come as a surprise to many in the
industry who have invested heavily over
the years in leadership development and
cultural transformation. And no doubt,
many senior executives and managers
provide exemplary leadership. However,
there is a significant lack of consistency
across business units, as well as
between different sectors, that has left an
unfavorable impression in the minds of
many job seekers and industry talent.
Lack of Innovation
And Collaboration
In spite of a growing emphasis
on leading edge, customer–facing
technology over recent years, the
financial services industry is still
viewed by many as relying on out–
dated, internal systems. In addition,
almost half of all survey respondents
(43%) told Blu Ivy that financial
institutions are process-heavy and
risk-averse. They see these institutions
as siloed, with little communication
between corporate functions and
business units. There is a perception
that the focus is on business results
and sales rather than people.
Lack of Transparency
And Trust
Unsurprisingly, since the financial
crash and subsequent scandals, the
financial services industry has been
the target of the debilitating press
and social media coverage. Survey
respondents have also been affected,
and in line with their expressed
desire to work for organizations that
offer a positive brand and reputation
in the marketplace, they chose to cite
“trust and societal impact“ as key
reasons they prefer not to work in
the industry.
Limited Opportunity
to Try New Things
Survey respondents also noted
a weakness in terms of internal
communications on future career
opportunities and current job openings.
Often times, despite the vast number
of opportunities within each of these
institutions, there is a feeling that internal
job opportunities are presented in a very
soloed manner, that the internal hiring
process is too long, and that talent are
often not supported in getting the training,
and mentorship required to move into
a new role in other departments or that
require emerging skills.

How top talent
looks for work
Over 75% of job seekers make
use of a variety of personal and
professional networks when
looking for employment in the
financial services industry. These
networks facilitate internal
referrals, which still account for the
largest number of successful hires
across the industry. Networking is
seen as not only the most trusted,
but most effective way of landing
a new position at an employer.
Other channels include: LinkedIn
(70%), job boards (62%),
recruitment firms (50%) and
Facebook (27%) were the most
commonly sited platforms that
active job seekers visit when
looking for work.
74% 54% 41% 41%75%of job seekers make use
of a variety of personal &
professional networks
The financial services
industry plays a strong
social media game
With its focus on digital transforma-
tion, financial services companies are
stepping up their game in terms of
employer branding on social media
using the following platforms:
These and other sites are now used
not only to post job opportunities but
increasingly to deploy employer brand-
ed content that includes employee sto-
rytelling, video, career blogs, branded
content as well as active employee run
brand advocacy programs.
How financial services
companies are
changing perceptions?
Telling a powerful story is what it
takes to stand out from competitors
in today’s financial services space.
Some organizations are ahead of
the curve, tracking perceptions and
proactively working to build up their
reputation among consumers and
job seekers. Successful firms often
use social media as a starting point,
especially when the goal is to change
long–held perceptions and establish
a fresh, new vision that appeals to
target groups in the marketplace.

Top 3 facts to take
away from our insights
1
Your employer brand is
critical to the success of
your corporate brand
transformation
The reality is that the industry
is undergoing a massive
transformation. Hiring managers
and leaders are now battling with
a broader and new set of talent
competitors. The skills that the
industry seeks today are in high
demand, not just amongst the
financial services space, but also in
tech, consulting, digital marketing
and communications industries. Blu
Ivy Group has talked with thousands
of financial services employees and
target talent pools globally and
there are consistent issues that the
industry faces in terms of employer
brand awareness and differentiation.
To address these challenges,
ensure that your organization is
conducting regular external market
research with the demographics
you are seeking to attract. In
other words, know your consumer
at all times! If you have not yet
launched an EVP, work with
an external research partner to
learn what matters most to each
demographic, their perceptions of
you and competitors, and how their
job search behaviors are evolving.
Much like internal employee
research, this should be done
annually to understand how likely
it is that your target demographic
would consider working for you,
but how your employer branding is
impacting preference.
Be bold with your employer brand
creative and campaigns. Ensure
that when talent inside and outside
the company see these campaigns,
they can clearly differentiate that
they are the audience, and ensure
that it is written in a manner that is
emotionally compelling to them and
their needs. Although it is important
to respect the brand guidelines,
push the boundaries! Remember,
that you are not just competing
against other FIs, but many other
industries and it is important that
your campaigns stand out in their
eyes. market rates and providing
competitive benefit plans.

Branding the employee
experience should
be a top priority for
executives.
A consistent Employer Value
Proposition (EVP) is a critical
success factor in today’s highly
competitive talent market. Although
it is indeed important that aspects
of the employee value proposition
are aspirational and future focused,
it is perhaps more critical that it is
experienced by employees within
the organization consistently.
Often in large institutions, with
multiple business lines, we uncover
inconsistencies in employee
experience due to management
styles, and variant policies. Far too
often we have found that the EVP
gets launched and owned in the HR
division, however, managers and
internal employees are unaware
of it. Sadly, that means that the
employer brand will provide little
ROI for the business, engagement
or culture. Of equal note is the
power that employer ranking sites
like Glassdoor, Indeed and other
social platforms have on forming
perceptions and airing dirty laundry.
The cracks in your employee
experience will be revealed and job
seekers trust what they see. In fact,
80% of job seekers under the age
of 36 will go to these sites to review
your company before applying. They
trust what is said on the ranking
sites more than they trust your
employer awards.
To address this growing issue, Blu Ivy Group suggests a few things:
A) Know your top 5 employer brand threats based on annual research with employees
across the organization. If just one part of the business has trust and engagement issues,
or a less than desirable employee experience, it can threaten the entire brand across
multiple media outlets.
B) Ensure your management teams and leaders know the EVP and employer promise. Help
them by embedding it into the interview and offer process, as well as making it a regular
cadence in communications.
C) Begin conducting employee experience and EVP pulse surveys on a quarterly basis. At
all times you should know how aware your employees are of the EVP, and how consistently
they feel you deliver on that promise. Ultimately the employer brand net promoter score
should be a metric that that you are tracking and reporting on every three months. This will
allow you to transform the culture at the pace the business demands and to uncover your
biggest threats and opportunities regularly, saving millions in negative PR and turnover.
2

3
For additional research insights or inquiries on how to build an
award winning employer brand and culture please contact us at:
sparker@bluivygroup.com or call Stacy Parker at 647-308-2352
Be innovative with your
content marketing &
social media strategy
Now is the time to elevate your
employer brand content marketing
and broaden your social media
strategy. There has been an
explosion in terms of employer
branded content. We have seen
video storytelling, branded content,
blogs, visuawl job postings and
animation quadruple in volume in
the last 12 months and the financial
services space have both been slow
and cautious in this space. There
really is no more effective means of
building employer brand awareness
and interest for passive job seekers
than an effective social content
strategy. Although LinkedIn is an
essential platform to be on, our
research tells us that the bulk of the
talent that the industry is trying to
attract spend very little time on the
platform. Thus, the importance of
multiple platforms and a broad mix
of content and themes.
Blu Ivy Group recommends investing
in an annual social creative
campaigns, inclusive of employee
photography and video storytelling.
It is so important to keep your feed
fresh and appealing so annual
campaigns are a great way to do so.
Use humor and heart, and ensure
that the creative concept truly
differentiates and catches the
attention of your target audience.
Far too many are copying what
their competitors have done with
photography, and storytelling. The
unfortunate result is that it all starts
to look the same. Dare to be different.
Build an employer brand content
calendar, that focuses on the EVP,
top of mind awareness, thought
leadership and getting the innovation
work stories out in the public eye.
Although your new digital spaces
are indeed cool, that simply is not
enough. It is the stories of the work
that will catch the attention of those
you are seeking.
Invest the right budget in the
space. If you are committed to
having multiple video posts each
quarter, weekly posts on multiple
channels, employee storytelling and
photography and blogs, you need to
set aside the right budget to make
this work seamlessly and that is of
the quality that your corporate brand
demands in its guidelines. Video is
important, but often surprises HR
departments when it comes to costs.
Take the time early on in budgeting
to ensure you find a solution that can
meet your needs and help you stand
out in the marketplace.

Financial Services Employer Branding Research - Blu Ivy

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (18)

Similar to Financial Services Employer Branding Research - Blu Ivy

Similar to Financial Services Employer Branding Research - Blu Ivy (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Financial Services Employer Branding Research - Blu Ivy